Friendships play a large role in many teens’ lives. Relationships with friends can also be a predictor of long-term outcomes for teens, including the quality of their adult relationships and work performance.
We asked U.S. teens a few questions about their friend networks, and more specifically, whether they can turn to these networks for emotional support.
Number and gender of friends
Roughly two-thirds of teens (64%) say they have between one and four close friends. About a third (34%) say they have five or more close friends – fairly similar to the share of U.S. adults who say the same. Only 2% of teens say they have no close friends.
Teens’ friends are often the same gender as them. About half of teens who have at least one close friend (49%) say all of their friends are the same gender as them. Another 48% say their friends are a mix of genders, while only 2% of teens say none of their friends are the same gender as them.
There are no major differences between teen boys and girls in the number of friends they have or the gender makeup of their close friend circles. This is slightly different from what we found among adults – women are more likely than men to say all or most of their close friends are their same gender as them (71% vs. 61%).
Emotional support networks
Among teens with at least one close friend, most teens (89%) say they have at least one friend they can turn to for emotional support, while 11% say they do not. However, there are some notable gender gaps on this question.
Boys are less likely than girls to say they have a close friend they can turn to if they need emotional support. Still a large majority of boys (85%) say they do; 16% say they don’t have a friend they can turn to.
Among teen girls, 95% say they have a close friend they can go to for emotional support, while only 5% say they don’t.
Relatedly, a recent Center survey of adults found a significant gap in the shares of women and men who said they would be extremely or very likely to turn to a friend as a source emotional support (54% of women vs. 38% of men).
We also asked teens whether they think boys or girls have it easier when it comes to having friends they can turn to for emotional support. A 58% majority of teens say girls have it easier. About a third (35%) say it’s about the same for both, while only 7% say boys have it easier.
Teen girls and boys gave similar answers on this question, with majorities of each group saying girls have it easier. Still, girls were more likely than boys to say boys have it easier (10% vs. 3%).
